Collapsible cabinet for radio and television receivers and like purposes



y 3, 1965 R. H. G. DANNENBERG 3,194,

COLLAPSIBLE CABINET FOR RADIO AND TELEVISION I RECEIVERS .AND LIKE PURPOSES Filed Oct. 19, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 13,1965 .G.DANNENBERG 3,194,619

COLLAPSIBLE c N FOR R 0 AND LEVISION RECEIVER ND LI PURPO Filed Oct. 19, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I F/G.4.

United States Patent 3,194,619 COLLAPSIIELE CABINET FOR RADIQ AND TELE- VISION RECEIVERS AND LIKE PURPOSES Ruali Heinz Gerhard Dannenberg, 22-24 Haager Strasse, Neuendettelsau, Middle Franconia, Germany Filed Oct. 19, 1962, Ser. No. 231,780 Claims priority, application Germany, Mar. 19, 1962, D 38,401; Apr. 25, 1962, D 38,762 7 Claims. (Cl. 312-7) The invention relates to collapsible casings or cabinets such as cabinets for radio and television sets, consisting of separate wall panels adapted to be fitted together for assembling the casing.

Radio and television sets are usually housed in highly polished cabinets, whether of wood with a plastic veneer or wholly plastic. Such cabinets are generally supplied to the manufacturers of the equipment to be housed therein, and they naturally occupy considerable space for transport. It is therefore desirable to construct cabinets so that they will occupy a minimum of space when empty, especially when they are sent overseas, so 'as to reduce shipping costs. Moreover, some countries prohibit the importation of finished goods, and cabinet manufacturers therefore prefer to export semifinished cabinets.

The transport of empty cabinets having highly polished surfaces creates special problems in packing.

Folding cabinets have already been proposed which do afford a considerable saving in the space required for packing, but they are not suitable for cabinets with highly polished surfaces because the finish of the panels, especially at the edges, is too easily damaged when the components of the cabinet, which may be connected together by tapes, are erected. This applies more especially to cabinets which have sharp corners.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a cabinet, especially one which has sharp corners and a highly polished finish, which can be readily packed for transport. Furthermore, the construction should be such as to permit the separate panels to be connected together in as simple a manner as possible so as to avoid the possibility of the highly polished surfaces from being damaged during assembly. Moreover, the externally visible panel surfaces of the erected cabinet should not be broken by fixing screws orclips which impair the appearance of the assembled casing.

In a cabinet according to the present invention, the side panels have male and female connecting means permitting all the panels to be easily separated and re-assembled so that the separate component panels can be packed fiat for transportation in a container which has a contour roughly corresponding with the contour of the front panel and a thickness roughly equal to five or six times the average thickness of an individual panel.

Preferably, at least the top panel of the casing is provided with pins or the like projections which fit into co acting sockets in the side panels. This form of construction enables the top panel to be fitted flush within the side panels, so that the visible upper edges of the side panels are completely square.

Advantageously, the front panel is arranged to fit into grooves or rebates in the side panels and top panel. The edges of the front panel will then be concealed from the side, giving the impression of a solid cabinet. I

Conveniently, a decorative fillet or moulding is fitted along the bottom edge of the front panel, this fillet having a flange which projects underneath the base or floor of the cabinet. This has the advantage that the joint between the floor and the front panel is concealed. This enhances the appearance of the cabinet.

If desired, the joints between the panels may be re- 3,194,619 Patented July 13, 1965 "ice inforced by additional fixing means inside the casing. To this end, conventional fittings may be used.

The ease of assembly of the components may be improved by arranging the feet on which the cabinet normally stands to be slidable under the base or floor panel of the cabinet perpendicularly to the front panel. The feet may remain afiixed to the base or fioor of the cabinet after it has been dismantled for transportation, and this avoids the need for packing the footrests separately and also for the separate packing, for instance in a special bag, of the fixing screws for the feet.

The feet may be provided with slots for the fixing screws, these slots being of the same length as the portion of each foot which is intended to project below the decorative fillet or moulding at the bottom edge of the front panel. After assembly of the cabinet the feet can be slid forward and screwed up tight, the forward ends of the feet projecting underneath the front panel and locking the latter in its required position.

A practical embodiment of the present invention which is illustrative only thereof, Will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded view of a cabinet for a television set;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary section, after erection of the cabinet, taken on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view, on a smaller scale, of a portable container for the cabinet components of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of the erected cabinet;

FIGURE 5 is a bottom plan view of a detail in FIG- URE 4, and

FIGURE 6 is a partly broken away elevation of FIG- URE 4.

The side walls 1, 2 (FIGURE 1) are provided with windows 3, 4 for fittings, controls and the like, and two sets of three blind holes 5 and 6 respectively are drilled from the inside into each of these panels for the reception of pins 7 projecting from the top panel 8 and the bottom panel or base 9. The casing is therefore assembled by pushing the two side panels 1 and 2 sideways on to the top and bottom panels 8, 9 respectively. The front panel 10 is in the form of a frame with a large window 11 for the screen of the television tube and a smaller window 12 for controls and the like. The front panel is insertable into slots 13 in the side panels 1, 2; and 14 in the top panel 8. The front panel may be made of a wood which differs from that of the rest of the cabinet-for instance it may be of lighter color-such as a hardwood, and is slid upwards in the slots 13 of the side panels 1, 2 into engagement with the slot 14 in the top panel 8.

The base 9 is provided with feet 15 (FIGURE 2), and at its edge adjoining the front panel 10 it has a rebate 16. The bottom edge of the front panel has an external decorative moulding 17 glued thereon which is usually of a contrasting wood, for instance black. The decorative moulding 17 has an internal flange 18 which fits into the {)ebate 16 in the base 9'. This hides the front edge of the ase 9.

All the above-mentioned components, including optionally a back panel (not shown) which can be made of hardboard, can be packed flat in a box or container 20 (FIGURE 3) of corrugated cardboard or the like. The front 21 of the container 20 approximately corresponds in size with the dimensions of the front panel 10, and the width of the side 22 of the container 20 is approximately five to six times the thickness of a side panel 1 or 2 of the casing. The top of the container 20 consists of two flaps 23.

The invention is not limited to any particular arrangement of inter-panel male and female joints, but the tongue and groove type of joint between the front, side and top panels, and the dowelled joints between the top, floor, and'side panels serve both to positively lock the respective parts together and to. keep the erected cabinet square. It is, however, appropriate in some circumstances to provide additional corner fittings inside the cabinet which can be easily released. Such fittings are well known in other box-like structures and can be designed to increase the tightness and rigidity of the joints between panels.

The feet 15' illustrated in FIGURES 4 to 6 are provided with two slots 20 and 21for the passage of fixing screws 22 and 23. The heads of the screws are accommodated in countersinks 24. The feet can thus be slidably adjusted to underlie the moulding and lock the front panel 10 in place. During transport of the cabinet in its dismantled condition, the feet 15 remain atiixed to the floor 9.

While numerous modifications and variations of the disclosed embodiments will become apparent to those I skilled in the art, they are deemed to fall within the scope and spirit of the invention if defined by the attached claims.

- I claim:

1. A collapsible cabinet for radio and television receivers and like purposes comprising a plurality of nominally fiat panels constituting respectively a front, base,

top and side walls; dowel and socket connections between said base and top panels and said side panels; tongue and groove connections between said front panel and said side and top panels; and an inward-projecting flange on the bottom edge of said front panel in the erected state of the cabinet underlying and clamped to the front edge of said base panel.

v 2. A collapsible cabinet according to claim 1 wherein said inward-projecting flange is formed on a separate moulding secured to the bottom edge of said front panel.

3. A collapsible cabinet for radio and television receivers and like purposes comprising a plurality of nominally flat panels constituting respectively a front, base,

' top and side walls; dowel and socket connections between 4. A collapsible cabinet according to claim 3 wherein said inward projecting flange is engaged on its underside by a foot member releasably secured to the underside of said base panel.

5. A collapsible cabinet for radio and television receivers and like purposes comprising a plurality'of nominally fiat panels constituting respectively a front, base, top and side walls; dowel and socketconnections between said base and top panels and said side panels; tongue and groove connections between said front panel and said side and top panels; a rebate along the front 'edge of said base panel on the underside thereof; an inward-projecting flange on the bottom edge of said front panel in the erected state of the cabinet engaging said rebate and clamped to said base panel; and an elongated foot member extending parallel to said side panels and releasably secured to the underside of said basepanel by means of a screw and slot connection.

6. A collapsible cabinet according to claim 5 wherein a pair of elongated foot members are provided, each foot member having a slot of a length to permit the foot to be advanced and retracted into and out of engagement with said inward-projecting flange.

7. A collapsible cabinet according. to claim 6 wherein each foot member has a pair of slots of the same length, each slot accommodating a respective screw.

References tilted by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 886,250 2/08 Roberts 217--62 1,209,027 12/ 16. I Quade L 217-62 1,456,582 5/23 Wood 21762 1,546,004 '7/25 Birry 312-7 1,742,922 1/30 Meyercord-- 3l2-7 2,278,850 4/42 j Hammond 217-62 2,757,059 7/56 Forrest 3l27 X FOREIGN PATENTS 3,504 Great Britain. of 1898 9/59 Great Britain.

s19,s0o

' OTHER REFERENCES Paekr, Kreift Aktiengesellschaft, German Application Serial No. K 19,500, published April 5,1956 (K1. 21a 4575 FRANK B- SHERRY, Primary Emmiaer. 

5. A COLLAPSIBLE CABINET FOR RADIO AND TELEVISION RECEIVERS AND LIKE PURPOSES COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF NOMINALLY FLAT PANELS CONSTITUTING RESPECTIVELY A FRONT, BASE, TOP AND SIDE WALLS; DOWEL AND SOCKET CONNECTIONS BETWEEN SAID BASE AND TOP PANELS AND SAID SIDE PANELS; TONGUE AND GROOVE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN AID FRONT PANEL AND SAID SIDE AND TOP PANELS; A REBATER ALONG THE FRONT EDGE OF SAID BASE PANEL ON THE UNDERSIDE THEREOF; AN INWARD-PROJECTING FLANGE ON THE BOTTOM EDGE OF SAID FRONT PANEL IN THE ERECTED STATE OF T HE CABINET ENGAGING SAID REBATE AND CLAMPED TO SAID BASE PANEL; AND AN ELONGATED FOOT MEMBER EXTENDING PARALLEL TO SAID SIDE PANELS AND RELEASABLY SECURED TO THE UNDERSIDE OF SAID BASE PANEL BY MEANS OF A SCREW AND SLOT CONNECTION. 